Four Surprising Ways Real People Got Really Rich

Read this book. Get jealous. And maybe a little inspired.

Most Read

For his new book, Rich Like Them, Esquire articles editor Ryan D'Agostino knocked on doors in America's wealthiest neighborhoods and asked the occupants how they'd gotten there. What worked for four of them:

1. Invent a shrimp peeler. Or partner with a guy who did. People are happy to pay for a machine that does such a tedious job for you -- even fifty-one years after you introduced it.

2. Buy riverfront property in Arkansas. And Costa Rica. And Baja, California. Places that are a little hard to get to suddenly look a lot more appealing when all the accessible waterfront property is gone.

3. Have actors sign your books. One man dedicated a corner of his bookstore to books that had been made into movies. When he got people involved in the films' production to inscribe them, he created a new category of literature: highly profitable.

4. Tie up old people. Among other lucrative niches, one travel company secures vacationers, usually retirees, with ropes and leads them to observation points on the edges of hundreds-of-feet-deep holes in glaciers.